Struggling with the terms of the struggle.

I watched a video, posted on twitter by someone complaining about BLM, and I felt the need to write this post.

The video -

First of all, nothing she says in this video is wrong. Second, I think the push back against it is based solely on people misunderstanding the terms that we use to describe things that occur in American society. So, let's discuss some of those terms that people seem to struggle with on a daily basis.

White privilege -  

White privilege is a term for societal privileges that benefit people identified as white in Western countries, beyond what is commonly experienced by non-white people under the same social, political, or economic circumstances.  

Source.

White privilege doesn't mean that all white people have things easier than all people of color. A rich black man, for example, may have more privilege than a poor white woman. The black man having the privileges of being male and rich vs the woman having the disadvantages of being poor and female.

Lots of white people seem to think that when someone says white privilege what they're saying is "You don't have to work for things because you're white." This is not what it means. It just means that you have the benefits of being white in a white country. I would imagine that being *blank* in a *blank* country is always a benefit, wouldn't you? Being Chinese in China, for example, would be more beneficial than being black.

The anger that I see at the use of the term white privilege brings me conveniently to another concept that people misunderstand. Ironically, the reason they misunderstand it is because of it's existence.

White fragility - 

White Fragility is a state in which even a minimum amount of racial stress becomes intolerable, triggering a range of defensive moves. These moves include the outward display of emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and behaviors such as argumentation, silence, and leaving the stress-inducing situation.

Source.

This isn't an attack on white people - the woman that wrote the book is white. It's just a term for a thing that happens. Here's an example of white fragility -

Melissa Francis was so overwhelmed by this conversation that she broke down into tears and effectively ended the discussion. This is exactly white fragility. This comes up often when discussing race with white people in America. I say in America specifically because honestly white people in other parts of the world are far more comfortable having conversations about race than white people in the United States.

This doesn't mean that all white people are fragile or that you're a weak person for experiencing this phenomenon. It's just a thing that exists in American society because of the history of racial tensions in the US and it's the reason that terms like white privilege cause white people here to bristle. 

And, speaking of terms that rustle jimmies...

White supremacy - 

White supremacy is the belief, theory, or doctrine that white people are inherently superior to people from all other racial groups, especially black people, and are therefore rightfully the dominant group in any society.

Source.

The United States of America was founded on white supremacist principles. This should come as no shock to anyone that has read the words of Thomas Jefferson or sung the song of Francis Scott Key. Hell, this is Washington, D.C. in 1925. 

Black people were barely people until 1964 and people are still angry about it today. White supremacy is part of the US. It's woven into the systems that people of color must navigate. It's the reason that being white in America is such a privilege and the reason that white fragility can even exist in the first place.

It's why this is a thug - 

And this is a patriot - 

It's why this is a riot - 

And this is a peaceful protest - 

And it's the reason that this is unacceptable - 

But this is a-ok - 

Simply saying these terms is not an attack on white people. Saying that white privilege, fragility, and supremacy exist is not the same as saying all white people are privileged, fragile, or believe in their supremacy. They're just terms to describe things that are. You do yourself a disservice by refusing to understand these terms. 

If you really want to help people of color in the United States, and the world, the first step is to listen. You can't listen if the terms we must use to describe the things that we must discuss shut you off from what we're actually saying. 

Knowledge is power. 

I love you, white people! Get on the bus! 

To serve.

He stared up at the sun defiantly as the moon began to move in front of it. Standing here atop Fort Knox his view of the eclipse was perfect. More importantly, his celestial alignment was at it's maximum potency for the ritual.

"Steve, your glasses."

He turned and blinked at his assistant, Reece. The poor boy was doomed. He was fine at assisting but that seemed to be the extent of his talents. He was holding everything Steve needed but in a way that infuriated him. His camera was pinched to his body with the right elbow, the strap hanging down near the ground dangerously. His coffee cup was in his right hand held from underneath precariously. He offered the eclipse glasses, held between two outstretched fingers, with his left.

"Fuck it." Steve sneered, turning his attention back to the spectacle above. "Did you do the thing?"

"Yes..." Reece replied. "Why did you make me d-"

"I didn't make you do anything." Steve snapped.

"Ok." Reece said quickly. "But it was weird. At first, the doll wouldn't burn and then it suddenly caught fire. It burned so quickly and brightly. But only... After I..."

"After you said the words."

"Yes."

"Good." As the eclipse reached it's climax above them he held out his hand to Reece, who then handed him the coffee cup. Removing the lid, Steve threw the contents, ashes created by Reese's ritual, off of the roof and into the wind. "Seder pe’ulat ha-yetsirah." He said.

"Seder pe’ulat ha-yetsirah." Reece muttered, automatically.

Steve's eyes stung as he watched the sun reappear from the moon's shadow. Probably destroyed my eyesight, he thought absently. Good thing Moshiach was near. None of it mattered anymore. He looked out across the water and sighed.

"Reece, what is your purpose?" He asked him.

"To serve you, sir." He replied immediately and with absolute conviction.

"Good." Steve said, nodding. He stepped towards Reece swiftly, grabbed him by his belt and his collar, and tossed him from the roof. To his credit, Reece fell silently to his death. As he smashed fatally against the ground below Steve admired him for that. So many die screaming and without dignity.

"You're welcome." He said down to his lifeless body. Doomed, he thought, but at least he had a purpose.  So many more would die clawing for that and never achieving it. Reece had been lucky. Suddenly, his pocket was full of Wagner. He reached into it and retrieved his ringing cellphone.

"What?"

"Did you see the news?" It was Miller, his man in the White House, and he never called with good news.

"What did our naked emperor do?"

"He stared directly up at the eclipse like a dumbass. Three times. The press is having a field day with his senile ass."

"Is that all?" Steve laughed.

"This stuff is adding up. It matters, Steve." Miller insisted.

"Oh, I don't know." Steve said. He looked down over the edge of the building and saw Reece staring back up at him. He was standing in the pool of blood he'd created after he'd been thrown completely motionless save for the movement of the wind in his long black hair. "Maybe he's like me. Maybe he's just saying 'Fuck it.'."

Miller began to speak again but Steve hung up and returned the phone to his pocket. He spoke down to Reece in barely more than a whisper.

"What is your purpose?" He asked him, again.

"TO SERVE YOU!" It roared back up to him in one voice that sounded like one hundred.

"That's right." He told it with a grin. "Now, go get the car."

He gave the sun a final glance. It was finished. The sun was whole again and blinding as always. For now, at least. Crescent shaped artifacts danced across his vision after he tore himself away from it.

"Fuck it." he said, and headed for the stairs.

Review of Republican Tears - Vintage 1942.

There are moments when I feel perfectly comfortable taking the low road. Times when I can quite happily watch my foes fail as they reach for their goal, mere inches from their fingertips, only to stumble, and then fall. I feel no remorse as I stand over them, laughing, and drink their bitter and delicious tears.

Last night, I felt this way as I watched Mitch McConnell weep openly.

Schadenfreude, they call it.

Taking pleasure in someone else's misfortune.

As those salty morsels of satifaction oozed from his sad, sleepy eyes my mouth instantly filled with saliva. As enticing as beads of morning dew running down the skin of a ripe, green apple bathed in the day's first light and diminished not one iota by the crusty jowls down which they currently streamed. I was a man, fresh from the scorching desert, and Mitch McConnell's precious droplets of failure were my oasis.

The look on his dumb, droopy face when McCain gave his thumbs down, immediately making eye contact with the defeated dunce like a boss, was as delectable and decadent a treat as any state fair fare. It was fried iced cream. It was fried cheesecake. It was a funny funnel cake of fantastic fuckery.

Thank you, Mr. McCain.

But where do I go from here?

Will anything ever be as sweet?

Will I ever again be satisfied?

Read this, you curious cunt!

Let's talk about the word cunt.

Firstly, let's dispel something right now. The word cunt is NOT automatically misogynistic. The word cunt is not reserved for women. Personally, I rarely use the word when referring to women for that very reason. Can a woman be a cunt? Sure! Anyone can be a cunt. You could be a cunt right now while reading this. Hell, I'm a cunt sometimes.

Wikipedia defines cunt as follows:

Cunt /ˈkʌnt/ is a vulgar word for the vulva or vagina and is also used as a term of disparagement. Reflecting different national usages, cunt is described as "an unpleasant or stupid person" in the Compact Oxford English Dictionary, whereas Merriam-Webster states that it is a "usually disparaging and obscene" term for a woman or an "offensive way to refer to a woman" in the United States.

The key here is “in the United States”. Only Americans restrict the use of this word to women. To me, that's more misogynistic than the use of the word. Are pussies only women? Are dicks only men?

Wikipedia goes on to say:

The Macquarie Dictionary of Australian English gives "a contemptible person". When used with a positive qualifier (good, funny, clever, etc.) in Britain, New Zealand, and Australia, it can convey a positive sense of the object or person referred to.

So, in other English speaking countries the word cunt is not only not exclusive to women but it's also used as a positive sometimes. E.g. - “Nice one, you cheeky cunt!” would not be insulting to an Aussie or a Brit.

I don't know why the United States has decided that cunt is such a horrible word while having absolutely zero issue with the word pussy. I can say pussy all day. I can call men pussies, I can call women pussies, I can call children and animals pussies; No one bats an eye. I call a man a silly cunt and everyone loses their minds. It's ridiculous.

My twitter account was limited earlier for calling Piers Morgan, a British man, a cunt. In his own tongue that's barely offensive. Meanwhile, users call me every slur there is and constantly bombard me with obscene photographs of black people and terrorism victims with impunity. If the word cunt is more offensive to you than the word nigger or a picture of a woman that was torn in half by a truck driven by a terrorist then, guess what?

You're a dumb cunt.

I'm going to continue to use the word cunt liberally. It's a good, strong word with a myriad of uses. It's not just convenient to use but also fun to say! Cunt just rolls off of the tongue.

Giggity.

Thanks for reading and have a fantastic Sunday, you wonderful, wonderful cunts!